Chapter Two

Looks like the shit’s hit the fan. Dr. Simon Teeg rubbed the shoulder Kolton had hit as he ran past, resisting the urge to sniff his hand. He was torn between his instincts that were telling him to chase his mate and his responsibilities that were clearly needed in a patient’s room. Warner Davis.

Responsibility won out. Simon could sense the moment he entered Warner’s room that the young man was dead. As always when he faced death in one so young, Simon’s heart ached. He paused at the edge of the bed, his eyes closed, taking a moment to feel and acknowledge a life that had been cut so short for reasons beyond his control.

“The Fates know what they’re doing,” he reminded himself as he always did. His training kicked in automatically. Simon had been a doctor of some sort or another for most of his very long adult life, and as he went through the motions, calling in the nurses, checking Warner’s vitals, recording time of death, and working through the endless paperwork a death entailed, he thought about the missing “boyfriend.”

After meeting him the first night Warner was booked in, Simon knew three things as facts. Number one, Kolton Davis wasn’t human. Seeing him in a hospital was unusual enough as paranormals were ridiculously healthy, but when Simon met Warner he understood what had brought the unusual shifter into his domain.

Number two, despite what it said in the paperwork, Kolton and Warner were not related. Kolton insisted that Warner be admitted under his surname and Simon had done it because Warner needed help. Simon didn’t care who paid the hospital bills or why, he just knew he’d lose his job if he’d admitted Warner without the necessary medical insurance or payment arrangements. Kolton was a godsend in that regard, insisting that all the treatments be charged to him.

And the third fact, something Simon was dwelling on as the nurses prepared Warner’s body to be taken from the room, was that Kolton was his mate. Simon had known from the night they met and had been fighting to keep the fact to himself for an entire month. Kolton was apparently clueless, understandable at the time because Warner had been so sick and clearly under Kolton’s protection. But what to do now, he wondered as he stepped aside letting the nurses and orderlies do their work.

“Oh no, Mr. Davis left his bag.” Rachel, one of the nurses, reached under the edge of the bed, close to where Kolton had been sitting. “Should I give him a call, Doctor Teeg?”

“I’ll do it.” Simon held out his hand, taking the bag, surprised at its weight. “I think we all understand why Mr. Davis left in such a hurry. Not everyone is accustomed to death as we are, and I will need to call him anyway to officially notify him of Warner’s cause of death and close off the accounts.”

Rachel smiled and nodded. “He seemed so upset, running down the hallway like that. It was like the hounds of hell were after him. You’d think he might have said something, or pressed the call button or something when he realized Warner wasn’t responding.”

Simon was hardly going to mention that the chances Kolton knew anything about hospital procedure were slim to none. “You and I both know from experience that death impacts survivors in different ways. Remember Mr. Burton, when his wife died last week?”

“Oh, my goodness, yes.” Rachel chuckled although she tried to cover it up when one of the orderlies glared at her. “He kept insisting we give her something to wake her up because the labels on the food she’d left him in the freezer had fallen off. It must’ve taken an hour for him to realize she was deceased and even then, he kept complaining about who was going to cook his meals now she was gone.”

“There you go. Grief impacts people in different ways, including some unusual ones.” Simon looked around, checking everything that needed his input had been done. “I’ll leave you to it. I have rounds to finish and then I’ll put in a call to Mr. Davis to finalize the hospital matters, make sure he has the funeral arrangements in place, and let him know about his bag, of course.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t come back for it yet,” Rachel said as Simon left the room.

I’m not. The amount of anguish Simon had seen on Kolton’s face as he’d disappeared out of the hospital suggested the paranormal, regardless of what type he was, had just had his first brush with death. Hugging the bag close to his chest, Simon imagined holding his mate close and comforting him. It was probably about as close as he was going to get to the man, at least for the foreseeable future. No matter how hard Simon’s other half might demand it, they both could see their attentions weren’t going to be welcome in the immediate future.

Stopping off at his locker, Simon frowned as he tried to stuff the bag into it. “What on earth has the man got in here?” Tugging at the drawstring closure, Simon’s eyes widened when all he could see was a large velvet covered box. Carefully pulling it free from the bag, Simon was doubly surprised when a warm blue glow seemed to emanate from the box.

Checking over each shoulder to make sure he was alone, Simon carefully lifted the lid, just an inch, trying to find out what was causing the glow. His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of gold and jewels all shining brightly in the velvet interior. Just as he went to open it wider, he heard two of his colleagues laughing and joking as they entered the doctor’s lounge. Closing the box firmly, Simon was relieved that it would just fit on the top shelf of his locker. The bag he hung from a hook underneath.

Is my mate a thief, or does he just have really expensive tastes? Simon closed and locked his locker door firmly, nodding at his colleagues as he left to go on his rounds. The mystery of his mate was just going to have to wait a few hours longer.